You've got to be kidding take two
by Princess Niobe
Summary: this a retry at sailor moon fanfiction and I have hopefully improved since my last stab (aka You've got to be kidding)
1. Prologue

You've Got To be kidding!  
Prologue  
Princess Niobe Disclaimer: I did not create Sailor Moon: which is, the inspiration for this, however all of the characters and events herein contained came from my warped mind and thus belong to me!!!  
  
Sunrise, if you could call it that, came sluggishly to Nemesis. This, of course was normal for the tenth planet of the solar system where days typically lasted many of what the Lunarians deemed days. This days long sunrise, served to give Nemesis the title of the Dark moon and the embodiment of the balance of duality that is all things. And it was through this seemingly endless twilight that Lady Neris, ruler of the Dark Moon walked aimlessly trying to dissipate her case of nerves. Today was the day! They would get an audience with High Queen Selenity, and hopefully have the chance to earn back the nobility and rights stripped from her family by her great grandmother's blindness to her husband's treason.  
  
In the two ensuing generations the rest of the White Moon had distanced herself from the Dark Moon subtly at first but then with growing speed and tenacity quite efficiently alienating them from most trade and impoverishing the planet to the point of draining on the royal family's treasury to pay for food and clothing for their people. But today that would all change.  
  
Slowly Lady Neris Became aware of a soft and sibilant voice inching it's way into her mind. It had been plaguing her since she had ascended to ruler ship of this small planet. Never the same twice it had threatened and begged her.  
  
"Come to me my heiress you have much work to do." Today it was welcoming and pleading softly as a father might. Tightening her resolve she turned her back on the door to the royal family tombs and involuntarily shivered, she came closer to it each time the voice called.  
  
"I really should get ready we leave for the hearing in only two hours and I must look my best." She thought mentally humming her favorite composition as loudly as possible to drown the voice and help her concentrate. She reached her rooms and imperiously summoned her servant to help her into the dress her mother's grandmother had worn to court functions.  
  
Three hours later she stood outside the polished moonstone doors to the main audience chamber silently praying to any deity who would listen  
"Please don't let me screw this up!" She was resplendently dressed in a Tudor style gown of black satin and velvet trimmed with the exquisite black opals Nemesis was famous for and the fabric was also woven by the textile artists native to her home. The perfect teardrop shaped black opal sparkled on her brow suspended there by fine imported Lunarian silver wire. Her hair was held half back by lacy black ornaments shaped to look like vines, the rest of it falling in a silvery cloud around her very slender body.  
  
Slowly the shimmering doors parted to admit Neris and her entourage. At the head of the column the young ruler struggled not to let her nerves show. She stopped precisely twelve steps from the dais and dropped a deep and graceful curtsey toward the raven-haired woman on the throne before her. High Queen Selenity was truly as beautiful as they said her delicate features faintly elfin set with large, deep, blue, eyes that seemed to pierce through to your soul. She glowed with the touches of silver light that bore witness to the awesome power she had sole control over. Behind the throne five young women stood at a reverent distance from the woman they were sworn to protect with their lives if need be. Each was a princess in her own right and each was imbued with the power of an element. The extremely intelligent only child of the Lady of Mercury was water. The hot- tempered twin of Prince Rowan of Mars embodied fire. Rachel, the only girl child and heiress to the kingdom of Jupiter represented earth. The eldest daughter of the Lady of Venus represented air. And last but not least the youngest of the earth princesses, was spirit. All of them had a small measure of the power of the queen and were often sent to moderate disputes between royal houses or trading guilds and represented the queen when she could not be present.  
  
Neris kept her eyes on the floor before her so as not to commit some great court sin as the Queen addressed her.  
"Lady Neris, you have been granted audience to plead the case of your planet's reentry into the trading and government of the White Moon empire. I trust you are aware of the reason your trading rights and titles were stripped from your forbears?" she inquired.  
"Aye your Majesty, My great grandfather tried to kill you and my great grandmother, ruler of nemesis before me, did nothing to stop it." Neris replied.  
"Then, face me and plead your case, your voice will be heard and then we will decide."  
  
***  
  
"I can't believe it!!!! Governor Queen Neris!!! All titles and privileges returned!! The most I expected was trading and reduced rank."  
  
*** Over the next four years Nemesis rose to prominence in the empire the whole planet prospered. Riches poured in and out of the planet, tinted onyx, fine black opals and obsidian came from the mines; beautiful textile works were produced from imported Terran silks, all seemed well and perfect but the voice still would not leave Neris alone. And one cold gray morning during the 8 month long winter Neris was seen walking as if in a dream toward the doors of the royal family's tombs she had done this many times in the past moths so no one thought anything amiss and Neris had entered the tomb that only she had the key to.  
***  
"W-why?" Selenity stammered as Neris stood before her holding the bloodstained obsidian knife that had finished first her guardians and then her.  
"Because you are in my way, I want to rule the universe and you, the White Queen, are the only thing between me and my goal now give me the crystal!!!" Neris cried, a maniacal glint in her eyes. But, as she looked down she saw the Queen start to pulse with brilliant silver light.  
"You cannot defeat me so easily!!!!" Neris cried, as her body began to crumble "I will be back mark me!"  
  
"I know you will my sister" Selenity murmured "I will save my warriors to protect this place and maybe, just maybe to heal you." With that her body dissolved into silver light that the crystal drank in and the bodies of her guardians dissolved into colored light and it too was pulled into the crystal as a final flash of brilliant white light scoured the system clean, all was lifeless, the phoenixes of mars, the talking dolphins of Neptune and Mercury. All was dead save one tiny creature in Earth's oceans with her dying breath Queen Selenity had saved and restarted all of the planets in the system and maybe someday they would all return and be able to live in harmony as they once had, but the lingering spirits of Neris and her Great-Grandfather had other ideas. 


	2. Chapter one: fishyness

You've got to be kidding!  
Chapter one  
Princess Niobe Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon; those rights are reserved for Naoko Takeuchi and TOEI, thus I'm just borrowing an idea and creating my own story line for it. This is an AU fic for those who had not already guessed that much. All of the characters created here belong to me and thus if anyone wants to use them ask me first please.  
  
"All maidens of the nation are invited to attend? Sounds dodgy to me." A raven-haired young woman commented.  
  
"All the more reason to check it out" a brunette next to her said  
  
"Yeah sure and you have no ulterior motive right 'Tina?" The first girl said caustically.  
  
"You know Li this could actually bear scrutiny I mean this sounds like a Cinderella story and we all know that that doesn't work out in reality" a blonde said seating herself carefully on the cold floor of the basement room the five girls were hanging out in.  
  
"Don't tell me you actually support this Anna?" the first girl asked incredulous. "I feel drawn to this place and that isn't good, you remember the last time right?" "How could I forget that blind date? Everyone this is Rachel, she just started at monument high" Anna finished introducing a girl with shoulder length brown hair. The girl with dark hair spoke first "My name is Lianne but as you heard my friends call me Li" a very short girl with equally short brown hair spoke next. "Dime, s'up?" the brunette who had spoken after Lianne gave her name next. "Christina but most of the girls here call me bunny after an anime character that I quite frequently emulate" "Nice to meet all of you, I have chemistry with Anna maybe I'll have a class with some of you. That could be good, I think, I don't have any friends here I moved in from a small town out west, and this place is seems so huge." "Don't worry you get used to it, or you'll have a psychotic episode, I never recovered from mine" Lianne said grinning. "So are we going are we going or not?" Christina asked "You just want an excuse to wear a dress." Dime said glaring at Christina. "Let's just check it out then." Anna said intervening to prevent what might have become a spat between the obviously related girls. "Fine, we meet back here at five tomorrow to get ready then we can just walk from here to the ballroom. It's at the school and we'll be moving back into the dorms as soon as they fix that pest problem. But then as all of you know I'm lazy" Lianne said grinning as she got to her feet.  
  
*** The next afternoon all five girls assembled toting makeup boxes, dress bags, hairdryers and other various and sundry beauty items. Lianne, Anne, Dime, and Christina all jumped enthusiastically into preparations. Lianne talking a mile a minute, Dime grumbling about dresses and makeup and how her hair never wants to cooperate, Christina joining Lianne in conversation and Anna quietly organizing the chaos but they shortly noticed that one of their number hung back as if afraid to interrupt and talking even faster to her Lianne and Christina assured Rachel that she was there and thus belonged and if she didn't hurry they'd be late. When they finally emerged each of them was clad in a different shade from the rainbow. Anna in midnight blue satin, Dime in a silver gown accented with golden trim, Lianne in deep blood red with a sheer black overlay, Rachel in deep forest green and Christina in a royal purple velour dress which sparkled as she moved (and none of that chintzy glitter stuff that sheds every where either) The fact that each one of them was skilled in one of 'the deadly arts of beauty' helped immensely and by the time they walked out the door each of them looked like a princess.  
  
"Aaron and Kathy will be there right?" Lianne asked conversationally.  
  
"As if the two of them would miss a chance to flirt shamelessly with one another and get away with it." Dime said grinning. This was a running joke between all of the girls.  
  
"I keep feeling something like a chill running down my spine but it's not really the same." Lianne trailed off remembering.  
  
She couldn't move, she realized something was wrong by the feeling of warmth that trickled down from her belly she moved her eyes to look and saw her own blood running sluggishly into a growing pool on the gleaming moonstone floor as she looked around she saw four other figures adding their blood to hers as they slowly bled to death unable to move and she knew they had to. to do. do something. It was so hard to even think anymore; she was falling into a welcoming blackness that assuaged all pain, driving all worry from her mind. 'No!' a small part of her shouted 'You still have work to do. get your lazy butt moving' She opened her eyes and suddenly sound came rushing back to her ear and she saw..  
  
"W-why?" an elegant woman with extremely long, midnight black, hair stammered as a silver haired woman with empty eyes stood before her holding the bloodstained obsidian knife that had finished first Lianne herself girls surrounding her and had just stabbed the dark haired woman, 'No that's queen Selenity and the other one is Lady Neris.' Lianne thought as if detached from what she recognized as her body dying on the balcony helpless and unable to help anyone else.  
"Because you are in my way, I will rule the universe and you, the White Queen, are the only thing between me and my goal now give me the crystal!!!" Neris cried, a maniacal glint in her eyes. But, as she watched the Queen start to pulse with brilliant silver light and slowly her surely fatal wound closed.  
Savage triumph leapt in her as she watched Neris Crumble before the queen  
"You cannot defeat me so easily!!!!" Neris cried, as her body began to crumble "I will be back, mark me!"  
As the traitor dissolved into powder she saw her own body dissolve into red lights; as the bodies of the other girls who had died protecting dissolved into light colored by the rainbow slowly realized that those bodies belonged to her closest friends, Dime, Christina, Anne, and Rachel and the crystal drank in the light that was their essence, their very soul in fact, sealing their spirits within it's crystalline depths before pulsing one more time and sending out a blindingly bright wave of silver and seen only by those now imprisoned inside it the crystal split into five fragments each splitting into the hues of a prism. Lianne's personal prison was red; Dime's yellow, Anne's blue, Christina's purple, and Rachel's green and there they floated all alone waiting for their time to come in the now silent solar system.  
  
That, was always when she had awoken, that dream had plagued her since about two months previous when she and her friends had started at monument high. 


End file.
